The Solar for All program is being eliminated under the One Big Beautiful Act, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Aug. 7 it was terminating a $7 billion grant program designed to provide solar energy grants to over 900,000 low-income households.
The Solar for All program, established by the Biden administration through the Inflation Reduction Act,
awarded grants in April 2024 to 60 recipients—including states, territories, tribes, and nonprofits—to expand solar energy access to low-income and disadvantaged communities, reduce energy costs, and address climate concerns.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a social media
video that “very little money has actually been spent,” noting that grant recipients are still in the early planning phase and have not yet begun construction.
“In some cases, your tax dollars were diluted through up to FOUR pass-through entities, each taking their own cut off the top!” the EPA chief
stated on X. “The bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive.”
Zeldin noted that the program was being eliminated under the One Big Beautiful Act that President Donald Trump signed into law last month, which also eliminated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
In the video, Zeldin said the previous administration had exempted the solar program from the “Build America, Buy America”
law, which requires federal agencies to use American workers, products, and infrastructure for projects funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars.
“That’s great news for China, not so much for the USA,” he added.
On July 7, Trump
signed an executive order to end federal subsidies for wind and solar energy projects, citing the unreliability of these energy sources and dependence on foreign-controlled supply chains.
In his
order, Trump stated that reliance on “so-called ‘green’ subsidies” poses a national security risk by making the United States dependent on supply chains controlled by foreign adversaries.
The order directs Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to take action within 45 days of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s enactment to enforce the termination of tax credits for solar and wind energy facilities.
It also instructs the Interior Department to review and eliminate policies that give preferential treatment to wind and solar projects over “dispatchable energy sources” such as coal-fired power plants.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who introduced the solar program in a bid to reduce electric bills for working families, denounced the program’s termination as illegal and vowed to push back against the move.
“At a time when working families are getting crushed by skyrocketing energy costs and the planet is literally burning, sabotaging this program isn’t just wrong — it’s absolutely insane,” he said in a Aug. 5
statement. “We will fight back to preserve this enormously important program.”
Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the program was projected to save participating households an average of $400 in energy bills annually, and that terminating it could drive up the costs.
“Instead of Solar for All, Trump and Zeldin want higher costs for all,” Markey
stated. “American households are already facing skyrocketing energy costs and are begging for relief, not political retribution.”
EPA did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
